Mohamed Maait, Minister of Finance, has said that the automated tax systems helped strengthen the governance of economic activities and achieve tax justice. He revealed that about 546 anti-tax evasion campaigns were implemented nationwide since July 2018, including 194 campaigns during 2022, collecting EGP 3.1bn in tax dues. He added that tax revenues increased last fiscal year by about 23.1%. "We aim to enhance our tax revenues to GDP by 0.5% in the medium term," Maait added. In a statement made by the Ministry of Finance on Sunday, Maait indicated that the legislative environment has been prepared to cope with the digital transformation of taxes. The Unified Tax Procedures Law issued in 2020 was one step towards that transformation, representing a legislative framework that codifies the unified mechanized tax procedures, which are based on a unified tax registration number that includes all types of taxes. He stressed that the integration between the electronic receipt and electronic bill systems helps monitor the actual size of Egypt's economy, thus improving financial performance indicators and maximizing the state's ability to achieve development and economic goals. It also eventually improves the quality of life of many citizens and enhances the services provided to them. Maait indicated that the ministry continues to raise the efficiency of collecting the value-added tax (VAT) due on products, goods or services provided through e-commerce. This trend is in line with international best practices. Maait pointed out that with careful follow-up of e-commerce transactions, more than 49,000 companies working in e-commerce have been counted since June 2021, at a rate that currently reaches 4,000 companies per month. He explained that the electronic examination system revealed 22,000 cases of tax evasion, of which 7,305 cases were paid, estimated at EGP 8.8bn. The remaining cases are being followed up. In addition, anti-tax evasion campaigns will continue as normal to ensure compliance with tax registration, in accordance with established legal rules, in order to achieve justice among taxpayers. "We started the e-invoice system in June 2020, and soon the number of invoices exceeded 677 million, at a rate of 40 million documents submitted per month. The number of registrants on the system reached more than 421,000," he noted. The e-invoice system for which the trial operation began in April 2022 is soon to be implemented, in addition to three mandatory basic stages that have been completed for about 5,300 companies. The number of receipts on the system exceeded 130 million at an average up to 5 million receipts per week, for the total number of registrants on the system exceeding 4,000 registrants.
